Wigeon Pair in flight

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Taken yesterday morning. Not as much flight action as I had hoped for but this one looks pretty good for iso-4500. It is a fairly large crop, about 30% of full frame. Wish the ducks were closer.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

any

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

any

Any pertinent technical details:

Iso-4500 (auto iso), Nikon AFS 500 F5 .6 PF VR, F8, 1250th, handheld, 30% of full frame, D 500, DxO photo lab, Adobe camera raw 11.2, Topaz adjust, TK sharpening actions at 10% and TK luminosity mask

2-Wig-IF-copy
2-Wig-IF-copy2000×1246 765 KB

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
2

Whoa… This is just excellent. Hard to believe just 30% at that iso?
I need some processing lessons…
It could go a tad warmer for me.
Terrific poses, nice head turn from the male.
I can see a slight selection halo in the large version but man, you nailed this.
Flight Photo of the year so far in Avian.

3

here is the raw unprocessed image

2wigraw
2wigraw2000×1334 1.43 MB

Slightly overexposed which I think helps with elimination of the noise. Initial processing using DxO photo lab for raw processing and noise reduction. Followed by Adobe camera raw for additional adjustments then opened in Photoshop and used topaz AI clear for initial sharpening and additional noise reduction followed by Topaz adjust to make the image pop, followed by Topaz De noise on the background layer only for further noise reduction, TK luminosity masks to decrease some of the brightness in the white areas of the background and finally TK sharpening action at 10% for the final image. I cloned away the water drops because they didn’t really add to the image. Also early in the process I moved one of the ducks in Photoshop using content aware move.

4

Impressive… I am still just getting the feel for processing D500 images.
The IQ held up well and I am impressed with auto iso… It usually blows whites for me and they are right on the edge for you here.
The third bird looks good on this, but maybe not in focal plane? If it is I would have left it in.

5

slightly OOF on the third bird although there are tools to fix this now (new AI Sharpen from Topaz, just introduced this week)

6

I like what you’ve done with the image and agree that’s impressive for that ISO and crop size. Nailed the focus on it too.

7

I am thoroughly impressed. Looking at the final product I have a hard time detecting noise. The birds with the clouds makes a strong impact for me. I can’t find anything to dislike about this image.

8

Excellent detail for the distance and crop, David. That new lens really has a quick AF. A very good image.

9

Great details, wings position…a wonderful frame!

10

Really nice post processing work. Image is impressive especially considering that large of a crop. I noticed the faint halos in the large version as well but still a striking image.